Retired engineers demand govt to construct Pranahita project

Patha Venkataramana, who led the team, told pressmen that building the barrage across Pranahita river was the only option left following sinking of the piers of the Medigadda barrage, a part of KLIP.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: A team of retired engineers from the irrigation department opined that constructing a barrage across the Pranahita river at Thummidihetti village in Koutala mandal was the only option in the wake of piers of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project sinking. They inspected the site of the scrapped project and a major distributory canal at Kammarpalli village in Dahegaon mandal on Thursday.

Patha Venkataramana, who led the team, told pressmen that building the barrage across Pranahita river was the only option left following sinking of the piers of the Medigadda barrage, a part of KLIP. He demanded the government to take up the irrigation project at the earliest for optimum utilization of water of the river.

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Meanwhile, Sirpur (T) MLA Dr Palvai Harish Babu, who met the engineers, regretted that northern Telangana was meted out gross injustice when the government changed. He wanted the government to construct the barrage and to irrigate agriculture fields of Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Mancherial districts immediately by considering it as an alternative to KLIP. The legislator further said that he along with the retired engineers would represent to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy soon and give a presentation to him on the need to build the project. He opined that projects located downstream of Sripada Yellampalli project could be filled by shifting water till the project using gravity.

The Retired Engineers Association’s former president Bheemaiah, members Pulla Reddy, Sriram Reddy, Raghuma Reddy, Venkataiah, Hanumatha Reddy, Ravindranath and others were present.